Hungary says an EU ban on Russian oil would be a 'nuclear bomb' for its economy, as it derails embargo plans

• Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said the EU Russian oil ban would be a "nuclear bomb" for Hungary's economy.
• The central European country has emerged as a key obstacle to the EU's plan to completely stop Russian oil imports.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said a ban on Russian oil imports would be like a "nuclear bomb" for the country's economy.

The central European country is blocking the European Union's proposals for a total ban on the import of Russian oil.

Orban said in a state radio interview Friday that the EU proposal would be like "dropping a nuclear bomb on the Hungarian economy".

The leader also said he wants the EU to give Hungary five years to wean itself off of Russian oil. The bloc is currently offering Hungary and Slovakia a one-year exemption.

Orban said Hungary's dependence on oil pipelines means it would need to make vast investments to pivot away from Russian oil.

Hungary has become a key obstacle in the EU's plans to ramp up economic pressure on Russia by completely banning all oil imports from the country. Any action has to be unanimously approved by the bloc's 27 member countries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen officially proposed the plan Wednesday. She said the bloc would ban imports of crude oil within six months, and of refined products by the end of the year.

The costs to the EU would be high, von der Leyen said, but added it was a step worth taking to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

"Let us be clear: it will not be easy. Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it," the she told the European Parliament.

The EU as a whole received 25% of its oil imports from Russia in 2021, according to Eurostat data.

Yet Hungary and its neighbor Slovakia are far more reliant. Hungary and Slovakia got 58% and 96% of their respective total oil imports from Russia in 2021, according to International Energy Agency figures cited by Reuters.

Oil prices have risen sharply since the EU proposed the ban. Brent crude, the international benchmark price, was up 1.9% to $113.01 a barrel Friday morning. WTI crude, the US benchmark, was 1.88% higher at $110.27 a barrel.

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